New Photos!!

Hey all! I've added some new photos to my photo page from my holiday. Stay tuned, that's not all of them - more to come!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/khelke/ in case you forgot....

Part I: A Quiet Christmas in New York

I know I keep rambling boringly about anticlimaxes in this blog, but when it comes to the holidays, although New Year’s is always the biggest anticlimax, something must be said about Christmas, because the way it get hyped up everywhere (not just in the States anymore), you’d think that Jesus was coming back to celebrate his birthday every year and the refreshments are on him.

I’m always dumbfounded by the extravagant lengths people go to to prepare for and decorate for Christmas. Now I must confess (to the shock of many) that this Scrooge does like some Christmas decorations. For example, artfully hung white lights and a festive arrangement of holly and pine foliage are a traditionally tasteful and aesthetically pleasing way of showing zeal for the upcoming holiday.

However, I could never understand those who cover their houses with a vast 10000 kilowatt arsenal of colored, blinking LED lights and, even more ghastly, those giant inflatable Christmas cartoons that people like to put on their front lawns, along with a variety of plastic figures and candy canes here and there along the property. I never foresaw myself saying this, but it’s a pity that not many people set up that Nativity set on the lawn anymore, only churches and the pious.

Well, anyway, as I putzed around the Village of Patchogue this holiday season in various stolen vehicles gawking at these shameless displays of heady holiday spirit, I thought to myself how all of this would look to an outsider who knew nothing of this grand holiday spectacle that Christmas has become (for the record, while Kursad was here he was fascinated by the whole concept, especially Christmas trees). I thought, “Well, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that there was a week long party coming up that might, if one is lucky, culminate in an ecstatic apocalypse.”

But, riding my wonky bicycle back to Mom’s house on Christmas morning (had to give up the guest room for Thomas and stay at Paula’s), the opposite couldn’t be more true. I suppose I was way too early waking up and 8 on Christmas morning and heading out, and when I did could see that things were anything but that end-of-the-world party. No one was stirring, not even the wind (no mice with all those wild cats in the Village). In fact, the bay looked like glass in the pale morning light shining through the clouds, serenely beautiful. I had forgotten that most people sleep in on Christmas (I never could, ever since I was a kid), and then lay about the house all day doing nothing (not up my alley either). People don’t have coffee and eat breakfast until 10 o’clock. So because I only like to be lazy all day under certain circumstances, I always feel antsy on Christmas. And I still can’t figure out why people spend so much time and money gussying up their property if on Christmas nothing at all happens.

Christmas - a most exciting holiday

So of course, this Christmas I didn’t stay inside all day doing nothing. I can’t. I suppose those at Laurel St. have an informal Christmas tradition of heading over to Fire Island for Christmas if the weather is decent, so this year my cousin Evan and I joined the tradition and headed over to the beach with my mother, JR, and Andrew.

Bros

Bayside

No one for miles...

Ben was happy to go to the beach too

Dune bushwhacking

Hello!

The air was frightfully cold, but this became irrelevant in the face of the monochrome beauty of the pale sand, leaden sea, and absolute isolation that met us once we crossed the dune to the ocean side. I prefer being at the beach in the fall, but I can totally understand those who say it is at its most beautiful in the winter. Being out there and losing yourself the raw, unadulterated beauty of nature moves you in a way, and gently, humbly reminds you that you are just like all those grains of sand, flotsam, and jetsam that wash up on the faraway shores.

Merry Christmas, baby.

Back on the mainland after our adventure, it was time to go to dinner (“It’s at 3?!?”), at Paula’s of course. It was nice to see people I hadn’t seen and answer the same questions about Turkey over and over again (because I love to repeat myself). There was the usual roast that could feed an army, and although I don’t want to bore you with the droll details of what we ate, I have to say that it was one of the best Christmas dinners I’ve ever had (compliments to the chef, as always!!). Nothing beats Christmas like fireplaces and great food.

There's a lovely tree

An American Christmas for the Kiwi

Ho ho ho??

Hats off to the Yorkshire Pudding

The scrumptious spread

Well, we didn’t quite get a white Christmas this year, but we sure did get a lot of snow in the days afterwards. I know that most already know that the Northeast was castrated by a killer blizzard in the days after Christmas, it’s old news at this point, but it was something else to see all that snow and be literally hemmed in for two days by the massive amounts of the stuff that we got. Joe got me helping him shovel us out (again and again, me shoveling and he working the blower), and after two days things returned slightly to normal.

Making up for the space it takes up in the garage

Not digging that out...

The paintjob really shines in the snow

In the midst of the blizzard...

Well, I not really normal – I have to say that I was really quite lucky to have gotten out of JFK on the 29^th considering how many flights were cancelled and people left stranded from the storm. My flight out in the end was delayed by 4.5 hours, but I was just thankful to leave safely and be on my way to something new, something routine, and, of course, il mio amore.

Get one more peanut butter snack before I leave, buddy

Next: Part II: An Alpine New Year’s in Bormio

City-ots

YES, I still do have best friends in the States. The city is always refreshing in more ways than one.

I took the train to the city yesterday to visit some of my best friends: Grace, who was always my best friend at Delaware, and Deborah, my roommate from Brooklyn last year. Damn, if there is one thing that I really miss about being home, it is taking the train to the city. I know it is a daily commuting hell for many people on Long Island, but for me, a train buff, it will never get old.

What up again, LIRR

I met Grace in the city at about 1 o'clock, and we walked up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree. Maybe it's because I haven't seen the tree there since I was twelve, but it sure wasn't as big as I anticipated it to be:
"Dude, look how small it is."
"Yeah dude, I thought it would have more decorations on it," Grace said. Yeah, it was a bit anticlimactic. Well, you be the judge.

I suppose it would be better seen by night

After being unimpressed by the tree, we returned to Korea Town to enjoy some delicious Korean food (squid never gets old!) with souju. After lunch, we made our way down to NYU for a few half pints and some good catch-up talk. It was so nice to spend time with her again, and it was like nothing had changed at all. I had such a nice time with her, and I hope we get to see each other again before I make my way back across the pond. (You rock, had so much fun!!)

Still looking great!

Some friendships never die.

Unfortunately Grace had to split back to Jersey early, so I had some time to kill before meeting Deb, who postponed on me (again). I took the train up to frozen Central Park and walked though the dark paths illuminated by the city glow, stopping along the way to play with my camera to figure out how to get some good night shots (it's a learning process). I got a few good ones, but here is a nice one looking south to 59th St.


A bit later I made my way down to Cooper Union, but because Deb was so busy with rescheduled classes and me with a train I had to catch at 10.30, I only got to see her for an hour. We went for Japanese and I had a good time busting on her with Bobby, her boyfriend, who is a really great guy. I'm only sorry we couldn't spend some more time together (make some time next time for Chernobyl Ghost Hunters next time chica!!).

I had a great time ladies; thanks for reminding me who my best friends are here. Miss you girls...

Dela....where??

Last week I made a trip down to my old country home, Delaware. When I used to drive down in the past few years from New York, I would always be surprised to see a new batch of environmentally-wrecking, newly-hatched condominiums along the way, or a new strip mall or some other giant store with a hideous facade that wrecked the bucolic coastal landscape. But on the cold ride down this time, there was none of that. It was almost bizarre that there had been nothing new built, like something was wrong; the empty streets of planned neighborhoods still sat desolately by the highway as they had a year or two ago. Seeing this, I was glad to see that the housing bubble's bursting had finally stopped the runaway development of plastic mansions, yet it also reinforced my recent revelation that nothing changes at home.

First and foremost, I need to make an apology. I'm sorry to those in Sussex County who may read this and get offended, but by no means should you take this personally, as this is based on my own perceptions, and while it may solidify my pretension, this is not an attack on all my good friends and family who still reside there.

As I said about lukewarm receptions in a previous posting, I didn't expect anything ostentatious returning to Delaware. Save my visit to my father and three friends of mine, Delaware's receptions were cold...McMansionless neighborhoods, snow that no one cared about removing from the roads, and shuns from old school friends.

Probably still unplowed as you read this

First let me say that it was absolutely great to see my father and Jeanne again after so long. It was too soon to leave them, and I must say that such hospitality is unmatched even by Turkish standards. We ate some great food, went shopping, made Pfeffernuss together, slid the truck around in the snow, joked, shot pool...all of it was great. Home, no different than when I had left, but this time, the lack of change was good. I had a fantastic week with them, so if you're reading this Dad, thanks so very very much for the great time.

Snowy boardwalk

Wintry Atlantic


Merry Christmas, Kyle

So I went to my new old high school while I was back home. Wow, what a mistake that was. I thought it would be nice to see some of my old classmates and teachers and the "progress" they had been making with their lives. But when I got there it was clear that the people who I knew and used to be friends with hadn't gone far beyond Indian River HS, if at all. Nor were they even polite upon seeing me, let alone interested in making conversation with me. The biggest culprit of all was my old band teacher, Mark Marvel, whose inability to have a focused conversation with someone is worthy of a gold medal and who, unremarkably, still can't see past the perimeter of his ulcer-ridden paunch. As I left I was embarrassed to think that I used to look up to him, and that I had imagined that anyone would have reciprocated my interest in seeing old classmates.

But I can't speak for all of my old friends. Both my friends Woody and Nathan were happy to see me and spend time with me, so I am grateful to still have good friends in my old neck of the woods. And I was also pleasantly surprised to see Christina, a friend of mine from high school and university (seriously, Latin? That's way cool!). So all in all it was redeeming to see that I still had some friends back in Delaware and that they were doing well for themselves. I hope to see them again soon.

Ironically, this was a warm, friendly reception

I left with the feeling that every time I come back, I know that place less and less. The joke "Dela-where?" has new meaning.....where is my old home, and all those who I used to know? But it still is a home to me thanks to my family and handful of friends. Thanks everyone, for making my holiday week in Delaware a pleasant one.

Home & Ithaca

Home again, home again

Well, I have been Stateside for a little over two weeks now, and everything is, well, normal, and has been since the day I got here. You know, when you're away from home for so long, you build up your return, imagine how everything and everyone has changed, how thrilled everyone will be to see you, visiting people you missed, and when you finally return your wonderful, long anticipated "Welcome Home" ticker-tape parade is....well, nonexistent:
"How was your trip? Everything alright? Good....we're having chicken for dinner, glad you're back. And I need you to take the bottles back for the deposit tomorrow. And don't leave your shoes lying around." Anyway, good thing I never entertain expectations - it usually leads to disappointment. I suppose all homecomings are always a bit anticlimactic. This is reality, not a film.

I haven't done much for most of the time being home, but I suppose that's what I wanted and allotted so much time home for. I made the rounds visiting family, lent a laboring hand where needed, decided what to cook for dinner (it's easier when the cupboards are stuffed with food), dug through my stuff in the attic ("Oh yeah, I forgot I had that!!"), walked the dog, the usual. But I missed doing these things, going to the deli in the morning for a bagel, watching public television, drinking my coffee in the morning watching the river out the window - the dumb little stuff that's no big deal not doing but when you do it again you realize you missed doing those stupid little things, because that's what home is: the big things you don't really miss as much as you think you do and the little things that you miss more than you thought.

While I planned to loaf about a bit immediately upon arriving home, this was (pleasantly, I should add) interrupted by a visit from Kürşad, who I had to put up and show around. Actually, the week he was here was rather nice. I took him to Robert Moses and we went up in the Fire Island Lighthouse (finally), and went to the city drinking beer on the train. He was pretty blown away by the city, as I expected, and exhausted as well, because we hit the walking tour with a vengeance last Sunday morning (Times Square, Queens, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Little Italy, Staten Island Ferry, NYU, Union Square Park). We only stayed there for two days, but I was glad to show him around and see his eyes all agog at the city. I have to admit, it made me realize that I missed the city a little as well, a big little thing I didn't know I missed.
We didn't do much else besides that because the weather was so cold, so we mostly hung around the house like a couple losers. I feel kind of bad about that. But one day we did get a car, and we drove out to the North Fork to Orient Point in the screaming, biting wind and cold. It sure is beautiful in the winter time. Nonetheless, I think he had a good time here, and my family became quite fond of him and enjoyed his company. We missed him after he left; 30 min later:
"Man I kind of miss Kürşad."
"I was just going to say the same thing!" Mom replied. Well Abi, if you read this, we liked having you here and we miss you. See you back in Istanbul soon.

Finally made it to the top

What up LIRR

Welcome to Brooklyn.....Fuhgeddaboutit!!

The river is frozen, but our hospitality is warm!

So this weekend after Kürşad left, Mum and I drove up to Ithaca to visit Margaret and Chavez in their new house. The drive up was cold but the scenery was lovely, because it snowed pretty much all the way up there, blanketing the sleepy, New Englandish bucolic setting you dream of settling down in. We only went for the weekend, but we had a nice time - we did some hiking up a gorge to a fantastic frozen waterfall, ate some good food, talked a lot, and just took in the town. Ithaca is a nice place, but it is still a big college town, and walking around gave me memories of being at Delaware that made me shiver. Nonetheless, it still was an interesting place to visit. On our way out this morning, we bought some tasty upstate apples, and filled some jugs with clean, refreshing spring water flowing right out of the mountain. It was nice to visit the mountains, but I was more glad to visit Margaret and meet Chavez.

Looks small from down the stream....

...but is much higher than you think when you get up close


Icy mist blasting us in the face

I can still see you!

Up above...

And down below

Cayuga Lake, from Cornell

That last run upstate doesn't spell the end of my country adventures - this week I'll be returning to Delaware to visit my father, and some old friends from high school who, strangely, were happy to hear from me. More anticlimactic receptions to come, but I can't wait for the best one when I get to Italy at the end of the month! (which, of course, will be anything but anticlimactic ;)

Princess Piper really missed me!

Doing Time and A Tribute to the (B)Ovine

Today is the day I've anticipated for ten months. Today has been so close and so far, desperately yearned for at times and feared at others. Today was meaninglessly meaningful.

Today, my friends, I finished my contract at English Time. Well, not exactly, but I'll get to that in a minute.

But it's not as if I've finished here in Istanbul, oh no. I'm only taking a hiatus between contracts. As some of you already know and others have anticipated, I have already signed another contract to continue working at English Time in January, albeit for 6 months only. I haven't any idea what I'll do after that, but I anticipate I'll need a change at that time, and to be honest I don't really care to experience another Ramadan. Neyse, at the moment, I'm finished my long-haul contract; I've done my time for the moment, and I'm taking a much needed holiday in between. My work has allowed me a liberal amount of time for a holiday, so I'm looking forward to traveling, relaxing, and collecting money, of course. I envy real teachers; at least they get 3 months off every year. And weekends as well. God I'm so glad I don't have to work weekends anymore.

So on November 24th I'll be leaving the country for the first time in ten months, which will be nice. Istanbul is a modern and fairly"Western" city, but I miss the West, normality. I haven't traveled much throughout Turkey while I've been here because I've always been so busy, which really is a shame, and on my time off I won't be travelling here either, which is even more of a shame. Hopefully next year I can do that, but at the moment I have too much of the need to go home, see my family, sponge up a good dose of American-ness, and visit a few other countries in the process (my obsession with chalking the countries up in my passport prevails).

So on the 24th I'll be off to London to pass Thanksgiving (in England, ironically) with my cousins, one of whom just had a baby. So at the moment I'm trying to figure out what this little guy's relation is to me: Second cousin? Third? Neph-sin? Well, at any rate, he sure is cute, and I can't wait to meet him. Many congratulations to the parents and to Paula, who is now a grandmother (Eek!).

The Next Generation

After my London vacation I'll be off to New York (finally!!) on the 29th - home again, home again, jiggity-jig! As much as I love Istanbul and everyone here, I have had the itch to get back to the island and visit the City again for a while (when people talk about how Istanbul is the most beautiful city in the world, I snigger in the back of my mind), so I am counting the days. Plus, I miss my family. I look forward to visiting Margaret upstate and seeing her new digs, and going back to DE to see Dad and bask in the wintery emptiness of Bethany Beach. I hope it will be as nice as I've built it up to be and, hopefully hopefully, it will snow. But not as much as last year before I left. Was that really almost a year ago already??? How frightening....

On my way back to Istanbul, I'll be returning via Italy to visit amore mio in her idyllic Alpine village of Bormio in Northern Italy for a few days, and hopefully stuff myself on decadantly delicious food and wine in the process. I've never been to Italy before, and although going to Italy never really crossed my mind in the past, I am very curious and excited about going. Hopefully during Bayram I can improve my Italian to a functional level.

Anna, amore mio, for those who are curious

After my Italian interlude I'll be back in Istanbul on January 7th to resume working at English Time. Although I told this to my students, they were nevertheless quite upset about my departure today. I seem to be well liked among the students in Sirinevler, and they regretted losing me as a teacher and seeing me go. Nonetheless, they were kind enough today to surprise me with a cake and "Ice Tea" during the lesson today, which was terribly sweet (the cake and the gesture) and I have to confess I felt a bit emotional after that.

So now I am finished for the moment with English Time, even though my contract is not finished until the 22nd. How is this possible, you may ask? Well, as luck would have it my contract happens to finish the first day after a week-long religious holiday here in Turkey, so I needn't return to work after this holiday. The Gods are in my favor. Because of Bayram (holiday), my classes are all finished, and I can wash my hands and be on my way.

Well, what's this holiday you ask? Kurban Bayram, or, the Festival of the Sacrifice, is the Muslim holiday which commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to his god. In remembrence of this, people purchase a sheep, goat, or, for the monied individuals, a cow which they slaughter by cutting the neck. Once the animal has breathed its bloody last, a butcher carves it up and it is tradition to share a good part of the animal with the poor. It is a time to remember god and share one's wealth with the less fortunate in Islam. Apparantly this is not done in the street or open public places, but nonetheless I don't think I'll leave the house on Tuesday.

Precluding this holiday, it's funny to see all of the advertisements and newspapers with pictures of children lovingly hugging the fuzzy horned sheep and complacent cows that will soon be put to the knife ("For the Sacrifice Offering, sharing is plenty - 300 TL ").

Don't bother questioning this, because they say, "But you eat kebaps and McDonald's, and you don't think twice about where it comes from, do you?" And they're right. So even though the Sacrifice Festival is a disturbing thought, it makes me think about where food comes from, and even though I feel a pang of guilt, I'm thankful to all those complacent cows and fuzzy sheep.

But for me the religious aspect is a different story. I'll withhold the snide comments for the sake of thankfulness for a long holiday, but I have to slip one in - on this holiday, it'll be a sheep for the sheep. Hasn't come far from the ancients, has it?

Random Photos

Although I haven't been the greatest photographer since I've been here, I have managed to capture a few random photos of various subjects in and out of Istanbul. I recently updated my photo page with those photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/khelke

Enjoy!

Ayvalık

I know that it is way too late to be posting about this, and that I am waaay too bad about keeping this blog updated, but I thought I'd share a little about my holiday escape-from-Istanbul-interlude for those poor souls who still hopelessly check this blog every now and then and come away disappointed.

Yes dear friends, I finally got the long-anticipated vacation that I had been waiting so patiently for this year (the day trip to Şile doesn't count). During Ramadan Bayram, most of the country travels and takes some sort of holiday, so usually everything everywhere is booked up during this time. Naturally, because I hadn't put much thought into where I wanted to go for Bayram, I found myself having to plan a vacation for myself at the last minute. I had no clue where I wanted to go, but I had been itching to drive a car again, so I decided to rent a car and drive somewhere.

So, on my birthday I took the metro to the airport and drove away happily with a tiny little Renault, tiny but hungry - when you rent a car here they give it to you with the tank empty and you have to fill it up. Bought gas in Turkey lately? Let's just say I don't want to hear any complaining about petrol prices when I get back Stateside - we have it so disgustingly good (no complaints, though). So it was wonderful to get the wind in my hair on the highway and my cabbie tan (burn) back again, swear at other motorists and circle endlessly for a parking spot. To drive was good, but to be refreshed of the headaches of car ownership was even more delightful.

You can't drive directly south to the sunny shores of the Aegean from Istanbul, because there is a big sea there you have to drive around. You can go two ways, so on my way out I drove east to go around the Marmara before heading south through Yalova and Bursa. I drove and drove for hours, and late in the afternoon I arrived in Ayvalık, a sleepy little seaside town surrounded by olive groves overlooking the Greek island of Lesbos in the distance. I was lucky enough to find accommodation in an old, rustic pension that had a delightful terrace overlooking the sea in the old part of town, behind an old Greek church and a safe place to park the car ("Come, go, no problem!!").

Lovely way to wake up

Terrace door

Best place I've ever eaten breakfast.

There really isn't much to do in Ayvalık unless it involves swimming or sunbathing, but that didn't bother me much, because I didn't want to do much on this vacation. After I got there, I went to a "mediocre" beach to go swimming, which was nice after having been out of the water for so long.

The next day I drove out to the peninsula to a national park that seemed to be more of a massive olive grove than anything else. I drove for hours down the red dusty roads (good thing the guys at the airport didn't see I did a bit of off-roading in that poor car) in search of a sandy beach to lie on and swim. When I drove towards what I took to be the tip of the peninsula where there was sure to be a sandy beach, I came round the bend to see that I had set my course for an island, and the road ended abruptly at a rocky shore where there had once been a bridge. Okay, it wasn't sandy, but the turquoise water was enticingly clear and clean looking, so I began to venture in for a swim even if it were a bit rocky. However, once I got away from the shore I found the bottom to be littered with dark bristling sea urchins and, fearing for my unhardened soles, gave up. I turned back and found my sandy beach outside of the park, near a resort neighborhood of vacation houses.

End of the road

Sea urchin paradise

The last day I went to a small town not far from Ayvalık called Sarımsaklı ("Garlicky"). It was more lively than Ayvalık, but I wasn't in much of a mood to enjoy the liveliness of it as I was suffering from some sort of allergic rash which I attributed to the aromatic sunscreen I had used the entirety of my trip. Nonetheless, Sarımsaklı had the nicest beach of the entire trip: it was wide, sandy, and thronged with people. The water was impossibly clear - you could see down clearly 8 or 10 feet and even deeper - and there were even floating docks you could dive off of into the crystal deep. It was lovely. I finally got a decent dinner (read: good mezzes), and got eaten by mosquitos as I smoked nargile. A good way to round off a day of swimming and sunburn.

Of course, when I turned back to Istanbul by way of Çanakkale the next day (carelessly passing Troy, the ancient Greek city) I was unhappy to be leaving, but I was glad in a way to get out of the sun (itchy rash itch itch itch itch) and get moving again. The ride back was a beautiful tour along the Aegean coast and up steep, wild mountain passes overlooking the sea and islands, and near Çanakkale I stopped at a roadside overlook to take in the vast expanse of the Dardanelles and watch the great hulking ships passing through on their way to and from the Black Sea.

Further on at Çanakkale a ferryboat brought me back to Europe over the choppy straights. As I neared Istanbul, the sky darkened and the skies opened and began to rain. It was late by the time I got back home, and the cold rain made me long for the blazing sunshine of that morning. It was a short vacation - but, like at the end of any vacation no matter how long, it felt good to be back home again.

Shake the sand out of your towel, and put your sandals away for a while.